Iran is paying Russian women working as technicians at its sole nuclear power plant to adhere to the Islamic dress code, an Iranian lawmaker told the ISNA news agency on Tuesday.

Women in Iran, regardless of their nationality or religion, are required to cover their hair and much of the body. Those who do not abide by the rule -- known as hijab -- may face arrest or other punishment.

Pilgrims and locals celebrated Christmas Day on Tuesday in the ancient Bethlehem church built over the site where tradition holds Jesus was born, candles illuminating the sacred site and the joyous sound of prayer filling its overflowing halls.

Overcast skies and a cold wind didn't dampen the spirits of worshippers who came dressed in holiday finery and the traditional attire of foreign lands to mark the holy day in this biblical West Bank town. Bells pealed and long lines formed inside the fourth-century Church of the Nativity complex as Christian faithful waited eagerly to see the grotto that is Jesus' traditional birthplace.

The mausoleum for Russia's revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin must undergo major repair work after its foundation suffered water damage, the Kremlin said Monday.

The communist icon's body will also undergo preservation work, a move that adds fuel to a debate in Russia about whether his remains should be buried.

In a corner of Ireland, hope has replaced desperation as parishioners watch their own Christmas miracle unfold in front of their eyes.

St Mel's Cathedral in the small town of Longford is being restored to its former glory three years after it was destroyed by a fire on Christmas Day.

A Saudi Arabian liberal writer was arrested on Monday for making comments on his Twitter account that were allegedly insulting to Islam, family members said.

Turki Ahmed was arrested on orders of Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdel Aziz, who was tipped off by a religious organization, they said.

Almost 80 years after first going to print, the final Newsweek magazine hit newsstands Monday featuring an ironic hashtag as a symbol of its Twitter-era transition to an all-digital format.

The second-largest news weekly magazine in the United States has been grappling with a steep drop in print advertising revenue, steadily declining circulation and the migration of readers to free news online.

A Swedish university said Sunday it wants to return three human skulls that researchers collected in French Polynesia in the 19th century.

The skulls arrived in Sweden in 1884 aboard the royal frigate Vanadis, which had stopped in Tahiti and in the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia. Swedish ethnographist and archaeologist Hjalmar Stolpe was among those on the voyage.

Hundreds of visitors have tucked handwritten notes into the enormous stone slab at the new center adjacent to Bogota's main cemetery, which many think of as Colombia's "Wailing Wall."

The structure is the centerpiece of Colombia's new Center for Remembrance, Peace and Reconciliation where visitors can pay their respects to victims of the armed conflict that has torn the country apart for nearly a half-century.

Thousands of Palestinians and tourists were flocking to the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Monday to mark Christmas at the site where many believe Jesus Christ was born.

This year's celebration carries special significance for many Palestinians, coming after 12 months in which their status on the world stage has been significantly upgraded.

The last surviving British-based member of the International Brigades who fought in the Spanish Civil War has died aged 94, The Independent newspaper reported Monday.

David Lomon was a 19-year-old rag-and-bone man in east London when he volunteered to join left-wing forces battling General Francisco Franco's nationalist troops in the 1936-1939 conflict.